Earth Day, Every Day

April is Earth Month with Earth Day falling on Thursday, the 22^nd. As landscape professionals, we feel that every day is Earth Day and we hold an annual Spring Day of Service in conjunction with this global celebration. This year we’ve moved our event from April 23rd, to Saturday May 7^th to allow for more of our staff to participate.

The Spring Day of Service kicks off with staff, family, friends and business associates meeting at headquarters in the morning. We enjoy coffee and donuts while I thank everyone for their participation and remind them that not only is this day a great team building event, it is also a fantastic community service we are providing. We then get our assignments, gather our supplies, load the trucks, and descend on New Milford at 9:00AM sharp to tidy up our specific locations. Once the work is completed, everyone returns to the office for a “Thank You” cookout.

We encourage you to get involved and celebrate Earth Day in any way you can! – Shayne

Visit www.EarthDay.org – It’s Not A Day, It’s A Movement

“The Earth is what we all have in common” -Wendell Berry

TICKS

The ticks are out and they are relentless. The deer tick, aka black-legged tick, is the one we worry about the most as it can spread the extremely unpleasant Lyme disease to both humans and pets. As in most illnesses, prevention is key! We all know what we’re supposed to do, but to lower the risk of getting a tick bite, one must be diligent when spending any time outdoors.

Ticks wait in the grass and leaf litter for a “host” to come by. Once they grasp on to your clothing, it’s a race to find a dark, warm place to secure a meal. Here are a few suggestions to help lower your risk of picking up a tick and being bitten.

Use a skin or clothing tick repellent (always read directions for proper use).
Wear light-colored clothing and tuck pant legs into light-colored socks. This will allow you to see any ticks much easier and prevent them from reaching your skin.
Brush off your clothing or use a sticky lint roller to remove any crawling ticks on your clothing before getting in your auto or going inside your home.
Remove clothing upon returning home and leave outside or immediately wash and dry. Some ticks will survive the wash, but not the hot dryer.
Shower as soon as possible before ticks have time to attach and embed.
Do a complete and thorough tick check. Another person or a mirror is helpful for checking hard to see areas.
Inspect children and pets immediately after they spend any time outdoors.
Check for embedded ticks often because a missed tick will grow quickly as it feeds.
Remove embedded ticks immediately.